Swedish melodic death metal band AMON AMARTH released their twelfth studio album "The Great Heathen Army" on August 5th, 2022, through Metal Blade Records. Produced by Andy Sneap at his Backstage Productions studio in Derbyshire, the record was among the heaviest and most direct of the band's career, trading some of the anthemic polish of "Berserker" for slower, more crushing riffing. Johan Hegg's roar led a lineup of guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström and drummer Jocke Wallgren. The standout guest turn came on "Saxons and Vikings," which featured SAXON's Biff Byford on vocals and Paul Quinn on guitar, with Byford contributing lyrics that answer the song's Norse perspective from the English side. The album charted in the top ten across much of Europe and further cemented AMON AMARTH as metal's most reliable purveyors of Viking spectacle.
